He's My Brother
by CHAILYN
Summary: Dean's one year is up. Sam isn't quite ready to give up. But demons aren't quite ready to either.
1. Chapter 1

…_**But He's My Brother**_

_**chapter 1**_

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A/N: Re-edited version. Please let me know if you catch any typos or grammatical or structural errors that I missed, and Enjoy!

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_Dean quietly pulled on his clothes, first his jeans, then his jacket, and his shoes; it was his normal routine except for one thing—he removed his keys from his jacket pocket, the keys to his beautiful Impala, his most beloved possession, the thing he guarded most fiercely, next to his brother. Sammy was the reason, the reason why he had to leave before it happened—he couldn't let Sam watch as she came to collect…Dean dropped the keys on the nightstand next to the note that he'd written to his brother to explain, months ago when he knew there was no hope, when Sam was still looking desperately for some way to get him out of this. If Sam had known that tonight was the night he'd never have been asleep he would have been still pouring over the books, trying desperately to save Dean. Dean took one last look at his brother, knowing this was the only way to do it, the only way to protect his brother, and left._

_Dean had to admit that he had been mildly amused when they'd pulled up to the motel and he'd seen the shiny new red Mercedes parked a few spots from his baby. He was sure that it probably belonged to some hot shot, pot bellied, balding businessman who came here to screw around with some two bit hooker. The moron hadn't even bothered to lock the car up!_

"_Idiot." Dean muttered as he got in. People had no respect for their cars any more—not that this full-size Barbie show car had anything on his Impala. It was easy for him to hot wire, which Dean was thankful for—he wanted to put as much distance between himself and Sam as he could as quickly as he could. The engine came to a life with a low rumble and Dean pulled out of the parking lot with a low squeal wincing as he heard it since Sam was a lighter sleeper than anyone anymore._

_**0 0 0 0 0**_

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"_Son of a bitch!" Sam swore loudly grabbing the envelope and tearing it open._

_As Sam skimmed it he couldn't help the alternating waves of anger and fear that washed over him. Dean had done what he had promised, __**promised**__ Sam that he wouldn't do—he had lied to him, and ran off to do this alone, still trying to protect him, Sam thought angrily. Sam pulled on whatever clothes he found lying on the floor and grabbed the keys running out to the Impala. He was going to find Dean, he had to. He had promised Dean that he was going to find a way to fix this and he was, he wasn't about to let his brother die for him._

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_Dean couldn't help but to be disgusted by the CD's that Mr. Jared Dwyer of Carson, Missouri had in his car. In his usual fashion, he had shuffled through the glove box and though he was facing the definite uncertainty of death this was more terrifying to him; a collection of eighties pop starring Paula Abdul and The Bangles ranging to the best of the nineties boy bands. When Dean turned the knob of the CD player to on and was accosted with Vanilla Ice 'Ice Ice Baby' blasting from the surround sound speakers he quickly flipped it off once use of his motor functions returned to him._

_Dean thanked whatever higher power that was out there that this musically challenged idiot had no control over the airwaves and settled on a good ol' fashioned red blooded, American classic rock station. With the soothing sound of Metallica drumming through the speakers Dean began to relax with the thought that he was now a good two hours away from Sam; and that his brother would be safe, protected, and wouldn't have to watch. It would have killed Sam to watch him die, Dean knew that—watching Sam die in his arms had almost killed Dean and he would _never

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_Dean's theory that Sam would sleep until morning, until this was over, was blown to bits as his cell phone rang and he looked down to see Sam's name on the caller id. Dean considered ignoring it, and it seemed like a viable option until he reconciled himself to the fact that Sam was, in fact, a Winchester and just as stubborn as he was and would just keep calling back until he answered—and truthfully, if Dean was being honest with himself, he wanted to talk to his brother, he wanted to hear Sam's voice one more time before…_

_Dean didn't even have a chance to finish his thought before Sam began to talk—or maybe yell was a better description, Dean thought with a fleeting grin._

_"Dean, you jerk, this is a load of bullshit!" _

_"Hello to you to Sammy, I uh…take it you read my letter?"_

_"Did I-Did I…" Sam's voice registered pure incredulity. "Jesus Christ, Dean! Yeah, I read the damn letter, its bull and you know it. I—_

_"Sammy," Dean cut him off. He had expected this and he didn't blame him for being angry, but he didn't have any other choice but to leave. "It's better this way. It's over for me, and I just want you to stay safe. You can't stop it and I can't and I know you don't believe me but I'm okay with it."_

_Dean's subservient tone scared Sam more than anything, like he was really giving up. It made him angry and scared, and he struggled to speak over the lump rising up in his throat._

_"No! Dean it's not over, we can still fight this, just tell me where you are and I'll take the impala and come—we can fight this together." Sam was begging and desperate, Dean could hear it clearly and it tore him apart that he was hurting him like this. He cursed whatever it was that had woken him up and took a breath before he spoke._

_"No." Dean had worked way too hard to keep Sam safe to throw it all away now. "Sam just stay at the motel, please, I'm begging you, just do this one thing for me."_

"_Fine." Sam said coolly, changing tactics. "Where are you going?"_

_"Sammy…c'mon, do you really think I'm gonna fall for that? Drop it, man, please. It's better this way. For both of us."_

_Dean had decided to wait it out in an old out of the way house that he and his dad had squatted in when they needed to keep a low profile—a year or so after Sam ad gone off to college—it was in the middle of nowhere and completely out of the way from civilization so Dean had no worries about any one being caught up in the cross fire._

_"Dean, don't do this." Sam pleaded. "Please. We still have time. We can still find something."_

_"Sam, I only have ten hours left. Its over."_

_"Dean, I'm not letting you do this alone, you don't have to please…I'm coming to find you."_

_"You're not going to find me, and uh, take care of that car…" Dean laughed shallowly then grew serious once again. "I love you Sammy."_

_Dean turned his phone off and shoved it into his pocket feeling a lump rise up in his throat as he cut of Sam's objections and heard his brother's voice echo in his head. Dean pulled to the side of the road, feeling his eyes well with tears and just let himself go, crying with everything he had. Dean wasn't afraid of death or dying; he'd been within inches of death for most of his life, and he'd lived within reach of death's door. One thing frightened him though. Leaving Sam alone scared him more than anything he'd ever faced. Sure, he hadn't been with Sam at Stanford, but he'd always just been a phone call away. They were all each other had anymore; they'd lost their mom, they'd lost their dad, Sam had lost Jess…and now Sam was going to lose him. Dean had felt that kind of pain, Sam had died in his arms and he'd felt as if his heart had been torn to pieces. Dean just hoped that one day Sam could understand why he did what he did and forgive him for leaving him alone._

_Once Dean had cried all he could he revved the ignition and picked up the phone ignoring the dozen or so messages from Sam with a pang of guilt and punched in Ellen's number. She wasn't more than an hour from Carson, the main city where the motel lay, and if anybody could help it was her._

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**__"…I've called him a dozen times and he won't answer his phone." Sam was frantic at the thought that he might lose his brother and turned to Ellen for help hoping that maybe he had stopped to see her or had called her…just anything to give him an idea of where to find Dean._

_"Sam," Ellen took a deep breath, how was she supposed to tell the poor kid that there was nothing he could do. That the best thing for now was just to do nothing? He was slowly losing everyone he ever cared about and she was supposed to tell him to sit back and watch it happen? "I haven't heard from him." Ellen went for the truth wishing she knew how to help them. "But listen, why don't you come here--we can…wait it out together."_

_"Wait it out? Ellen, you don't get it. I'm __**not **__going to let my brother die for me, I'm going to find him and I'm going to stop it. I don't know how but I will."_

_"Sam--Sam--_

_Ellen sighed as he hung up on her cutting her off._

_"Like father, like son." She murmured to herself, hoping to God that Dean would call her or that Sam would call her back, and one of them would tell her that she was wrong, this had nothing to do with the deal, and Dean could go back to being his demon-hunting pain in the ass self again._

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did you like it? hate it? either way please tell me. If you've read my other fics you know the drill but I'll repeat myself since it is just so fun to talk to myself--please review, if you do i prmise i will be pursuaded to post sooner unless you know you think it sucks well then boo on you becaus i like it lol. pretty please review.

chailyn


	2. Chapter 2

_**...but he's my brother**_

**_chapter 2_**

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a/n: see...when you review i DO post sooner. lol. those of you who reviewed, thanks! this chapter is for y'all and I hope you like it. Please make me happy and review...i write faster when im happy.

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"_Ellen." _

"_Dean? Is that you?" Ellen was all nerves after Sam's call and she would be dammed if she wasn't going to find out what the hell was going on. And right now all she wanted to hear was that those boys had got into another stupid argument and fought like the immature men that they had the capacity to be--and in all honesty, often were._

"_Yeah, its me." _

_Dean's tone worried her. He sounded gruff and his voice was scratchy, as if he was holding back tears or if he'd been crying. Dean was like John in that aspect and had mastered the art of covering up his emotions--except when it came to Sam, and then he was just hopeless--so she didn't bother to ask him, she knew he probably wouldn't give him a straight answer anyway._

"_Dean, what's goin' on? I just talked to Sam and--"_

"_Sam?" Dean perked up at the mention of his brother. "Is he okay?"_

_Ellen ignored his question. She wanted to know what the hell was going on first._

"_What's going on, Dean?"_

_Dean knew she wouldn't tell him anything so he told her the truth. What was the point in hiding it anymore? Sam already knew, and the point of that was to protect him…look how that worked out; it was all f-ed right up to hell._

"_My bill's come due."_

_Ellen was speechless. They all knew about Dean's deal but none of them--except maybe Bobby--had know that it was so close. She cursed him for leaving her out of the loop, he knew how much that kind of crap pissed her off. _

_Ellen had realized the seriousness of it in the back of her mind but still, she was sure that it wouldn't happen. She didn't want it to happen and right now she would give anything for Ash. She had a feeling that if Ash was alive he'd be the one person who would know the loophole to get Dean out of this._

"_I had to leave him Ellen." Dean continued, his voice breaking a bit as he spoke, "You gotta understand; it'd kill Sam to watch. Sam…Ellen, he died in my arms and it was the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life…I wanted to die. I just wanted the pain to stop, it was tearing me apart…the image just kept replaying in my head over and over…I don't want that for Sam."_

_Ellen's heart broke for him. Dean had devoted his entire life to taking care of his family. Even before she'd met him, from the stories John had told her…Dean had always been mature in plenty ways beyond his years--he didn't deserve this. If you asked her, John had been wrong to put the kind of pressure on Dean that he did. For heaven's sake, telling that poor boy, from the time he was a kid…it just wasn't right. Although, his last stunt definitely took the cake; telling him that he might have to kill Sam, that was defnitly the low in her book for John Winchester. That boy--both of them--deserved a break, the universe sure as hell owed them one. She had lost her husband, and as painful as that was…she couldn't imagine the kind of pain that Dean went through; Knowing that you had no one left, that you were completely alone…_

"_Dean, I understand that you're looking out for your brother, I do; but don't you think that this is the kind of choice you should let Sam make?"_

"_No!" Dean practically growled in frustration. Why did everyone have to make it into such a bad thing that he wanted to look out for Sammy, spare him the kind of pain that he'd suffered? "Ellen, I can't. Please, you have to understand; I have to look out for Sammy and this is the only way I know how to do it."_

"_Okay," Ellen sighed, not liking this one bit. "But Sam, he's determined to track you down. I think he's more like your dad than any of you realize--same damn stubborn streak…"_

"_Hey, I-I know." Dean said, "And that's why I need you to do this favor for me."_

"_Whatever you need I'm here, Dean." Ellen said, it was about damn time he asked somebody for help. Doing everything on his own, the way he had been, it was tearing him apart--he mightn't of wanted to admit it but he needed help. "You and your brother, you're family."_

"_Can you--can you look out for Sam?" Dean felt a lump rise up in his throat as he thought of his brother again. Dean tried to ignore it and was glad when Ellen spoke, giving him moment to try and get his emotions under control._

"_Of course we will. We'll all be looking after him, Dean. You don't have to worry about Sam."_

"_I don't know how not to." Dean was honest with her, speaking over the lump in is throat that made his voice shake. "My whole life, everything, its always been about Sam. Protecting him, watching over him--its all I know."_

_As he spoke Ellen couldn't help but to be angry with John. The pressure he'd put on that boy, everything, it was a wonder Dean hadn't broken down. That poor boy was more guarded and strong than any kid his age had any right to be._

"_My dad, he drummed it right into my head. Watch out for Sammy, it's your job Dean, keep him safe. He didn't have to tell me I just did it."_

"_Sam knows that Dean, that's why he wants to be with you, try to help you; look after you the same way that you've looked after him all these years"_

"_Did I ever tell you what my dad told me before he died?" Dean needed to get all of this off his chest while he could. "He told me that if I couldn't save Sam, that I'd have to kill him. I hated him for it, you know. I never hated my dad before that but in that moment and the months after he died I had that swimming around in my head constantly--I hated him for doing that, for telling me I had to do that. For the pressure and the doubt--making Sam think that he had this great evil destiny…it nearly killed him…I hated him for that."_

"_Dean, I promise you, me, Jo, Bobby…we'll watch out for Sam."_

"_Make sure he knows it isn't his fault. Sam blames himself for everything and I won't have him putting this on himself too. It was my choice and if I needed to I'd do it again, I would. He needs to know that, Ellen."_

"_Have you told your brother this, Dean?"_

"_I wrote him a letter. I think he's too pissed with me too really read it…I don't think he understands, not yet."_

_Ellen's heart broke for the boys. They didn't deserve the crappy hand that they'd been dealt and it was damn past the time for the world to cut them a break._

"_And Ellen? I know I've ignored this but…whatever happened between my dad and your husband I'm sorry, I really am. I wish it never happened but…Please, can you--you'll let Jo know right?"_

_**0000000000000**_

"_Hi there Sammy."_

_Sam jumped at the sound of a female voice coming from inside the Impala. He nearly swerved into the wall when he turned to the right, to the passenger's seat and saw __**her.**_

"_**YOU!" **__Sam was nearly speechless was fury, as he stared at Cassia--the demon from the crossroads._

"_I'd drive it more careful if I was you, sugar. You wouldn't want Dean's great big sacrifice to be for nothing."_

"_You bitch! I should send you straight back to hell."_

"_Oooo…you should."_

_Sam reached into his pocket for the salt gun that he had grabbed before running out of the motel but before he could shoot her she got him first; smashing his head into the wheel with just enough force to knock him out._

"_But you're not." Cassia grazed her lips across his cheek, as she spoke. "Don't take it personally. I just don't trust your brother; and a girl has to look out for her interests."_

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oh boy...isn't that interesting?**

tell me what you think, and I'll get chapter three up asap if you're all good little reviewers...otherwise i might feel possesed to fill my little free time with some extra credit for calculus...im begging you don't make me succumb to that...please review and save me from calc.


	3. Chapter 3

_He's My Brother_

_Chapter 3_

_By Chailyn_

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_Authors Note: Okay first off--thank you everyone for the reviews, totally appreciated and they definitly inspired me to keep this going even though I have barrels of school work that's been drivin me nuts. Thanks in particular to **girlwholovesjensen **for beta-ing this for me. All you people should go check out her stories she's an awesome writer. Please review, and may I just say it took me forever to get this up here because decided that my life was not difficult as is with college and so it made me submit this a dozen times before it worked, so pretty please make my day and review. I put this up especially cos its a thursday and i don't know about y'all but after an new ep i like to rush to my computer and read some fanfic...anywho I'm babbling..._

_Enjoy!_

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_It had been seven hours since Ellen had heard from Sam and she didn't like it one bit. Sam was stubborn, but he would have called her back by now in the hope that Dean may have called her. It just didn't make sense, and she had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong--a feeling she had learned a long time ago to not ignore because when it come to things like this, her instincts were usually right. With that thought she picked up her phone to call Dean and left with the intent to check out the highway where Sam had called her from; hoping that for once everything would be okay.. If something had happened a while ago, as she had suspected it had, she was sure she'd find the Impala there or some kind of trace of Sam.**

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**"Ellen, are you sure?" Dean asked, his question coming out as more of a demand; turning his car around with a sharp screech of the tires before she even replied. 

"Damn it, you're not listening to me. No! I told you it's only a hunch I've got. I'm on the highway now and…" Ellen's voice caught and trailed off as she saw the '67 Impala parked haphazardly at the side of the road.

Dean picked right up on the pause and it was enough to give him a freakin' stroke.

"Ellen. Ellen! Did you find him? Did you find Sam, is he okay?"

"I don't know." Ellen said not bothering to explain to Dean what she'd found, it would only be another unnecessary worry for the boy. She grabbed her .23 millimeter and slid out of her car, slamming the door shut. Ellen checked the Impala to see if it was empty from the outside, got nothing, and then tore open the driver's side door with her gun cocked and ready. "Dean I found the Impala but it's empty, there's no trace of Sam--I can't even find sulfur."

"Where are you?" Dean asked pounding down on the gas, willing it to go faster even though he was currently pushing 200 mph.

"The I 98 ten miles from the Batesville exit."

"I'm on my way, wait for me--I'll be there in an hour."

"But Dean, it's…" Dean hung up on her before she could finish her sentence leaving her to talk to herself. "A three hour drive."

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Sam came to groggily with a mind numbing white hot pain shooting through the back of his head as he slowly rose from the cold, hard, concrete floor.

"Son of a bitch…" Sam muttered as everything came back to him in a flash; Dean…Cassia…Sam groaned and looked around trying to assess how much trouble he was in and where the hell she'd brought him. His guess was that it was some kind of warehouse, and that, what? He was here as some kind of collateral for the deal Dean had made? Sam dug through his pockets to look for his phone hoping he still had his phone--he knew hoping for his gun was too much of a reach, she was a bitch but she wasn't stupid--but he paused when he heard what sounded like muffled yells; apparently he wasn't alone.

"Hello?" Sam called out trying to ignore the throbbing pain in the back of his head. "Is anyone here?"

The muffled yelling got louder as Sam approached a door--unlocked. It had all the makings of a trap, but Sam went in anyways—after all it had worked out for him so well the last time he'd been abducted by a demon—if she had someone else he couldn't just leave them there--and the whole trap thing didn't have him too worried, as things were, he'd already been kidnapped, knocked out, was probably in the middle of nowhere; and he had no idea where Dean was, or if he was okay--how could it possibly get any worse?

Sam recognized the chained up girl immediately. He realized, yes, it could most definitely get worse.

"Jo?"

She was gagged and he had a feeling that she was as surprised to see him as he was to see her and rushed over to pick the locks on the chains with the paperclip in his pocket.

"Sam, you honestly have no idea how good it is to see you." Jo said as he pulled away the gag so she could talk. "But what in the **hell **is going on?"

"I don't know." Sam said. "Jo, how long have you been here for?"

"I don't know. A few hours maybe?" Jo explained, "I was in Kentucky, hunting a chubacabara and then I went back to my motel and I got sidelined by some demon who kept talking about you and your brother…what's going on Sam?"

"I don't know, she got me in the Impala when I was looking for Dean…"

"Yeah, where **is** Dean? She said he was part of this too."

"You don't know?" Sam was surprised; he figured that Ellen would have shared the news of Dean's deal with her.

"No." Jo was getting irritated with him, she really would like to know what the hell was happening.

"The demon that took you, I'd bet anything that it was Cassia, the crossroads demon."

"Why? What does she want? Doesn't she just make deals?"

"Yeah."

"Then why is she after you guys? What'd you do to piss her off?"

"Dean made a deal."

"Dean did **what**?" Jo couldn't believe what she was hearing. From what she knew about Dean and all she'd heard about him from his dad, from anyone…he was smarter than that. "When did he do that?"

"Last year."

"Why would Dean do that? I mean, Dean's done some stupid things, but he's smarter than that. What for?"

Sam eyes shifted downwards as a sense of guilt washed over him because she was right, Dean was smarter than that, and if he didn't get out of here and find Dean fast, he was going to lose his brother.

"Last year," Sam started quietly, unable to look her in the eyes.

"Sam, what happened?"

"I died, and Dean--Dean made a deal with her to bring me back."

"Sam I…" Jo didn't know what to say, she and Dean had their differences and… she couldn't pretend she'd never had feelings for him.

"It was my fault." Sam said, relieved to be getting it off of his chest. He and Dean never spoke of it, it was taboo—at least Dean didn't, not seriously, aside from that one time... "I screwed up, last year when the demon kidnapped me to go with the other psychic kids and now Dean's going to die because of it, if I don't find him before she gets to him."

"Sam it's not your fault." Jo said, trying to sift through all of this information that she was hearing for the first time. She knew how close the brothers were and…she couldn't imagine what he was going through, the thought of losing the last bit of family he had left.

"Yeah, it is. I could have killed him-Jake-I had the chance, but I didn't and he killed me and now Dean's going to pay for it if I don't find something…I have to find him Jo."

"Well, lets get the hell out of here then and find him before that bitch gets back."

"It's a little to late for that blondie," Cassia drawled as she appeared in front of them. "And Sam, god! Cut it with the whining **please**, I swear you're driving me nuts."

"What do you want?" Sam asked her pushing Jo back behind him which irritated her--she was getting real damn sick and tired of all these men thinking she wasn't a good of enough hunter to take care of herself.

"Me, I'm a simple girl. I just want my souls, but you know that, don't you Sam? And you see, you have a very, very important purpose in this game. I just want Dean's soul but turns out there are some people who are very angry with me for the deal that I made with your brother and we're just trying to remedy it. You're the key player in the game Sam, and screwing with you gets me bonus points--and that's where you come in blondie, I'm pretty sure Dean there, won't get here in time so you get the fun job, you get to tell him all about all this so that he can realize the pain that Sammy here's about to go through; make sure you let him know, its all his fault."

Suddenly, Sam felt as if his head had split open and as if his body was on fire. It came to him as bits.

_Dean…his dad…the fire…his mom…Dean being torn to shreds…_

"What the hell did you do to him?" Jo yelled as Sam was bent over, his body shuddering with the ferocity of the image.

_...Dean crying over his brothers body...Jo, dying like their mom did...Ellen being torn to shreds by a demon..._

"Just a little preview of what's to come." She said with a grin, "A girl's got to have some fun once in a while."

_Jess screaming in terror and pain as the demon killed her, begging for mercy, for help, for Sam to save her…Dean again, dying as Sam watched his brother bleed to death…_

Sam slumped to the floor unconscious and Cassia disappeared.

Jo had never seen anything as terrifying in her entire life as the horrible way that Sam's body convulsed during that vision that he'd had and she suddenly realized why Dean was so fiercely protective of his brother. Cradling Sam's head in her lap--with the gash that had split back open when his head hit the ground--Jo didn't know how to get a hold of Dean but she did know how to get a hold of her mother and she would bet on her life that her mom would know where he was.


	4. Chapter 4

He's My Brother

Chapter 4

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_Authours Note: First off, let me thank y'all for the great reviews. Let me forewarn you before reading that this is an idea that came to me friday night and forced me to drag my butt out of bed at 4 am to write. I had been babysitting a seven and nine year old for three days straight and so all pure insanity or utter brillance should be blamed on sleep deprivation, 'kay?Now, I was going to wait until thursday to post this chapter but i had some serious procrastiantion to deal with and I was all psyched that i broke the thirty reviews mark on my other supernatural fanfic and so here is chapter four, enturely for your amusement. And once again thanks to the totally awesome **girlwholovesjensen **for beta-ing for me._

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"Damn it!" Dean swore as he tore the Impala apart looking for some sign of where his brother could be and came up with nothing more than a book, Sam's gun, and--this pissed him off the most--Sam's phone. Dean slammed the door to the Impala shut with such a force that **_Ellen_** was surprised he didn't rip the door off its hinges. Dean than proceeded to beat his car, trying to take his anger, and fear, and frustration out on the only thing he could; and Ellen was sure that if she hadn't pulled him away from it and restrained him he would have kept it up until he was too broken and bloody to continue.

"Dean! Stop it," Ellen told him, "You're not helping Sam like this."

"No! You're right." Dean yelled, "I'm not! Sam's gone and I don't have the slightest idea in hell how to find him, and Ellen, I'm running out of time!"

Dean's yelling was cut off as Ellen's phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID, and Dean slumped to the ground in defeat, truly scared that he might not find Sammy in time.

Ellen hoped to god that it was some kind of news because Dean was genuinely scared and she had to admit she was starting to get scared too. Dean was slowly approaching his time, Sam was missing, and maybe, just maybe if they found Sam, maybe there could still be a chance for Dean.

"Jo?" Ellen was surprised to hear her daughter's voice.

"Jo?" Dean stood up slowly as he heard the mention of Jo's name. He was sure she was hunting around these parts, maybe she'd heard news of something.

"Mom, thank god--listen I know this sounds crazy coming from me, but I need you to find Dean, I--"

"Dean?" Ellen interrupted. "Jo, he's with me. What's going on? Have you heard anything about Sam?"

"Sam's with me."

Dean was looking at her expectantly with a look of worry on his face that made her glad to have some kind of news--just the fact that they knew where Sam was made her feel better. Though, she was a little worried that whatever took Sam had her daughter too.

"Dean." Ellen handed her phone over to him. "You better take this. It's Jo--she says she's with Sam."

Dean practically ripped the phone out of her hand. "Jo? Is Sam with you? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's here." Her voice was shaking a bit now and Dean softened his tone a bit.

"Are you two okay?"

"I'm fine but, Dean…That demon did something, I don't know what. She gave Sam some kind of vision or premonition or whatever…I think it was real bad, it knocked him out and he has a really bad gash on his head from when she took him…he-he's lost a lot of blood; I can't wake him up."

"Keep trying. If he saw something we need to know. Where are you?"

"I-I don't know." Jo said, "A warehouse somewhere."

"A warehouse somewhere." Dean slowly repeated her words before he blew up at her. "Jo! That doesn't help me! There's thousands of warehouses around here. Its like looking for a pin in a freakin' haystack!"

Dean got no reply and cursed when he realized her phone had cut out.

"Ellen, we gotta find them real fast. Sam's hurt."

Ellen was quiet for a minute before speaking, "Is Sam's computer in there?"

"Yeah, but…how's his laptop going to help us?"

"I had Ash put a chip in Jo's phone after she ran off with you and Sam. We can find them with it."

"Oh god, Ellen, I love you." Dean said as he dug out Sam's laptop from the floor of the car.

"That's what they all say. Now hand it over so we can find them and fix this damn mess."

A few moments later Ellen was done and handed the computer back to Dean.

"Found them." Ellen said with a smile, after all the kids weren't the only ones who knew what they were doing. "Jo was right. They're in a warehouse, in Duluth--its about fifteen minutes from here."

* * *

"_You know, he did it for you Sammy." Cassia said--taunted, perhaps might be a better term--as she circled Sam waiting expectantly for some kind of reaction from him._

_Sam was dreaming, or having a vision, or was drawn into some freaky ass world where it was just him and the crossroads demon. Either way, it didn't matter; he just needed to get the hell out of there before he ran out of time._

"_Oh c'mon Sammy, don't be a spoil sport. We've got some time and I was figuring that we could play until Dean comes along--if he makes it. You know, I'm getting the feeling that your brother isn't especially sharp. His timing? It sucks. Think about it. You know, if he had gotten to yellow eyes game maybe…a minute earlier, you two could have avoided all this unpleasantness; it's rather…depressing." Cassia laughed. "Luckily, he won't have to worry about timing soon, he'll be dead, and timing? It isn't so important down there."_

"_What is this all about?" Sam was lost, metaphorically speaking, what was he supposed to do? She was trying to make him angry, get him to do something. He could tell, and he wasn't going to bite no matter how hard she pushed._

"_Just a game Sammy. You want to know a secret? Truth is, I get pretty antsy once soul collecting time comes. Passing the time? It's…hell." Cassia threw her head back and laughed, clearly enjoying playing with him like this. _

"_You're not going to get Dean's soul." Sam warned her. "I swear to god, I'll stop you."_

"_Yes, I am--besides, I don't think god is going to be able to help you much now." Cassia sighed, "It's disappointing Sammy. I expected better from you; they say you're the smart one."_

"Damn it!" Jo swore as her phone cut out. "Damn. Damn. Damn."

Jo had been shaking Sam for a few minutes now to try and wake him up but he was out cold. She would give anything for some answers right now. As she tried desperately to wake Sam up, she went over the facts in her mind.

Sam had been kidnapped by the yellow eyed demon, the same one that had killed his mom, one year ago. Sam had been killed by one of his fellow psychic kids--in reality, not such a surprise to her, after all, aside from Sam, all of them had snapped and killed, unless of course, they had been killed themselves. Dean made a deal with the crossroads demon to bring Sam back, and was given a year to live--odd, she had always thought that everyone got ten years…--and Sam had been trying to find a way out of the deal. Now, the year was up and the demon was ready to collect. Clearly, the two had split up, or gotten separated--Jo had a feeling it was the latter--and yet she still had no idea of what was going on save two hard facts. Dean was going to die today, and Sam was unconscious.

"_Do you miss your girlfriend?" Cassia asked Sam, rather enjoying this little game that she was playing--even though Sammy wasn't playing along quite as well as she had hoped for. "You know, I imagine she died pretty angry with you. After all, you disappeared with your brother, leaving her all alone for yellow eyes to play with--you know, I bet she screamed for you, screamed for you to come and save her as he roasted her on the ceiling just like mommy dearest."_

"_Shut up." Sam told her, trying to fight he images as they slowly seeped into his mind, trying to control his anger. It was just a game, she was trying to get him to play into this, to get him to snap. He wasn't going to let her win. Not at this, and not when it came to getting his brother's soul._

"_Kind of ironic how everyone around you dies so unpleasantly." Cassia said, "Really, first mommy on the ceiling, then sweet innocent Jess, your dad of course--but you know, I'm not sure who to pin that on: you or Dean? It, really, it's a tough call, but maybe Dean and I can hash it over sometime during you know, eternity? And then Dean, you know, he's almost died for you so many times, really, you should think about it. Protected you your entire life, even when you didn't know , he was. Nearly lost his life trying to protect you from some nasty thing or another time after time…gave up his own childhood so you could have some semblance of one…tut tut tut…and how does Sammy repay his big brother? Runs away to Stanford and has the time of his life. Girls, parties, classes, __**friends. **__Too bad for Dean, his only real friend left when you did. He gave all that up for you, and you didn't even care…and now, he's going to burn in hellfire for you, for eternity--and don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't find a way to pull a John and climb out of there."_

That was the last thing that Sam remembered before waking up. His head throbbing, and he could feel he sticky wetness of blood as he brought his hand up to his head.

"Sam?" Jo was so glad that he was awake. "Thank god. Are you okay? Your head…"

"Doesn't matter." Sam said cutting her off. "We have to go. Now."

"But Sam, shouldn't we wait for my mom and Dean?"

"They're not going to get here." He said as he suddenly realized what his visions meant. This was all a distraction, Dean was going to be worried about Sam, and Jo and his guard would be down. This wasn't just going to be a regular, common, soul snatching--she, and whoever it was she was working with, they were going to kill all of them. "We have to get out of here. Now." Sam suddenly remembered his image of Jo and her mother being killed. He wasn't going to let it happen. He wasn't going to let anyone else die because they were connected to him.

"Sam." Jo was confused, why shouldn't they wait? They had no weapons, they didn't know where they were, and she sure as hell didn't know how to get out of here.

This was going to end tonight, Sam had lost way to many people and tonight, he was going to stop it.

* * *

_So, I'm dying to know what you thought loved it, hated it, cried at how sad it was, laughed at how bad it was...I'm not picky. Just review pretty please and I'll get to work on chapter five which albiet some natural disaster or Dean and Sam showing up at my house to exorcise my evil philosophy teacher who I swear is waiting to burn me on the ceiling yellow eyed demon style--chapter five will be posted by next thursday._

_Chailyn_


	5. Chapter 5

_**But He's My Brother**_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Authors note:** First things first: Thanks to **girlwholovesjensen **for betaing as usual. this story wouldn't be half as good without your help. This chapter was hell. but in a good way. I got the idea at...well i don't really know what time but most of it was mentally written well traipsing around the haunted bike path near my school_ _in the middle of the night. Clearly i had been watching too much supernautral when i thought that was a good idea. needless to say it wasn't. lost in the dark on a haunted bike path and no sam or dean...well its just not fun. however, if someone would like to supply me with them, or even just Dean...well, hell, I'm in for it again. no matter how creepy it was cos those winchester boys are worth a few scares aren't they? I worked hard to make this chapter extra long cos i felt bad about how long i took to update so i hope you enjoy. Also, for my chapterly plug i want to urge all you to go over and read **gilwholovesjensen's fic working title intro part one** cos its awaesome and totally under reviewed. Enjoy the chapter!_

_one lasst thing...just had to get in my own shameless plug...bad me, but i can't help myself. I did a oneshot called **wishes **for WIWSNB and i think that you might like that if you like this. its angst filled and rather dean centered. cos its just so much fun to torture him. :evil grin:

* * *

_Jo looked back at Sam, confused when he didn't follow her out of the door.

"Sam. What are you doing? Come on."

"I can't." Sam looked down at the ancient runes that covered the exit.

"Why?" Jo wasn't exactly the best versed in ancient runes, and she knew both Sam and Dean were...but still, she was pretty sure those only could contain like demons or spirits and Sam might be considered to be a lot of things...from a uptight researching machine, down to the Anti-Christ but he wasn't a demon.

"Demons can't go past..."

"So?"

"And I have demon blood in me." It was practically a whisper as his eyes remained trained on the runes, Jo's eyes followed his glance and right away she got it, even before he finished saying it. A shiver of fear ran down her spine as she looked at Sam. He couldn't leave.

* * *

Dean knew he was panicking but he couldn't help it. He had spent the better part of half an hour trying to break into this warehouse and nothing worked. He had picked the lock--nothing. He smashed it, hit it, pulled out his .45 and shot at it, and in a moment of supreme frustration tried to ram it down with his Impala….but still nothing had happened, the door barely dented, and he ripped the better part of the front end off of his front fender. 

"That's not normal. _That _is not normal." Dean was frantic, and fuming. He had to get in there. He had to get to Sam. It was never supposed to play out like this; Sam was supposed to be at the motel, safe…If that bitch hurt his brother or Jo…Dean was going to kill her.

"Well, it's probably cursed," Ellen, offered trying to remain calm, if Dean wasn't going to she didn't really have an option otherwise.

"I know that!" Dean bellowed angrily. "I just need a damn way in, and that doesn't help me."

"Jesus! Dean, do you think that I'm not scared to death too? My daughter is in there." Ellen told him, "But blaming and yelling isn't going to help us find them any sooner."

"I have to find him Ellen, I have to." Dean said his eyes shining with a glimmer of fear that surprised Ellen slightly; after all, she had never once seen Dean show any serious emotion, except maybe anger…but definitely not fear.

The minute the words were out of his mouth Dean had his answer. He knew how to get to his brother. He was going to go through the roof. The steel doors may have been able to keep him out, but the skylight would be simple to get through. All he had to do was break the glass, and rappel down.

Dean walked over to his car, digging through the trunk for the rope and ignored Ellen's questioning look.

* * *

"Jo. No. You have to go." 

"No." She told him stubbornly, she wasn't about to leave him here alone on some kamikaze mission to sacrifice himself for all of them.

Sam just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, throw her, whatever it took to get her out of here. He couldn't—Sam refused to watch anyone else die because of him, he couldn't do it. It was bad enough that Dean was about to die for him, he wasn't going to put anyone else in that position.

"Don't you understand?" He told her, his voice rising above his usual tone out of fear and pain from the headache that wouldn't go away from the time he'd hit is head and just kept getting worse. He was trying to save her life and Dean's and she was making it so damn difficult. "I saw what is going to happen to us. I saw you die. I saw everyone dying, and I'm not going to let it happen. I'm not going to let Dean die either, you have to go and warn him before he tries to get in here."

Jo truly didn't believe that Sam was thinking rationally because this plan of his was filled with more flaws than Jo could count. Firstly, how did they know that his vision was real, that it wasn't just some ploy by the demon to get Sam alone and vulnerable; second, how could Sam fight the demon when he had no weapons; and third—and the biggest flaw, in her opinion—how in the hell was she supposed to keep Dean out of here? Please don't do in, Dean. Sam says you'll die if you go in, it's a trap? Yeah, that would go over real well. If she tried to stop him, he'd probably tie her up, and toss her in the trunk to keep her out of his way. She was, and had been, thoroughly certain for a great deal of time that he had the impala for the purpose of that, because she had seen that trunk and you _can _fit a body in that trunk after all. If there was one thing and only one thing she knew about Dean Winchester, it was that nothing—certainly not imminent death—stood between him, and protecting his brother.

"I'm not going to leave you here alone." Jo said, she'd rather die, if that's what was going to happen than live with the thought that she had run from this fight in her mind for the rest of her life. "Its suicide."

"I have to stop her. How do you not get that? This is my one chance, my only chance to save my brother, to stop her from taking his soul, and she's going to do anything she can to make sure it doesn't happen. You're playing right into her game. She wants you to stay, to be used as leverage so that I don't stop this. Don't you see? The runes, the visions, and now you refusing to leave...she's going to use you so that I don't stop her."

"She'll kill you, Sam." Jo said as she pieced together what Sam was saying. If she was right, it sounded like he had some great plan to try and save Dean that would probably get him killed. "Maybe Dean..." Jo began to regret the words as they left her mouth. "Maybe its fate, maybe Dean was meant to die like this." She said her voice soft and barely audible.

"No. No, he wasn't." The look of anger in reaction to her words was unparallel to anything Jo had seen in her entire life, but still...she couldn't help but to think that maybe she was right. Dean had just missed death a dozen times in the time she'd known him. Maybe it had finally caught up with him. "You know that's not true Jo, you know it. I _died_ there."

"Sam, you..." Jo's voice trailed off, she had no idea what to tell him, what to say to make him change his mind. 'Let your brother sacrifice himself for you,' or 'yeah, Sam, trying to save your brother, even though you'll probably die doing it, it's a great idea?' It was crap. All they had was each other and...She didn't want to admit this, to herself, or to Sam, but...she didn't see how there was a way out. She didn't see how they could both live. One of them was going to die. Jo swallowed before finishing, thinking of what Dean would have told him, because right now, that seemed like the best choice for her. "You can't do this. If...I'll stop you...if you do this you'll kill yourself."

"I should have died!" Sam screamed at her, his voice shaking with anger. "I should have died! Not Dean, me. It's always been about me, Jo. All the deaths, everyone that I've lost, that I've loved...my mom, Jess, my dad, Dean...Jo, Dean has saved my life over and over, isn't it time I give him something back for that? You can't tell me I should just stand back and watch my brother die because I know, I _know _you don't believe that."

* * *

"Dean, what the hell are you doing?" Ellen asked him, as he walked around the building, rope in hand. She had been questioning him for at least ten minutes and had yet to get a response for him. "Dean!" She said sharply, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "What-what is going on?" 

"Stay here." Dean told her, eyeing up the telephone pole, the kind that was fairly easy to climb. From there, it would easy for him to get onto the roof and he didn't have any more time to waste arguing over his plan with her.

Ellen narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, Dean may have been worried and scared but he definitely wasn't going to be giving her orders. "Dean, you did not just give me an order. Now, tell me what we're doing."

"Ellen, this is my fight." Dean told her, trying to get through this as fast as possible. He had to get to Sam, if Sam was hurt...Dean tried to ignore the thought, and concentrated at the task on hand. "Please, just stay here."

"Dean, dammit! You can't do everything alone. I thought by now you would have learned that. You called me for help, and I wanted you to, you and Sam, you're family, and my daughter is in the middle of this. I'm not just going to sit back with my thumbs up my ass. I'm coming with you, got it?"

Dean scrubbed a hand over his face and ran it back through his hair before responding. "Fine. We have to go in through the skylight. We can climb the pole and then rappel down the skylight."

"Let's go." Ellen said leading the way. She may have been a bit older but she definitely hadn't reached the age where she was incapable of hunting.

Dean sighed and followed her up the pole, hoping that this wasn't all going to blow up in his face. That Jo and Ellen would make it out of there in one piece, and that he could get to Sammy, make sure that his brother was okay before that bitch laid claim to his soul.

Ellen couldn't help but to wonder as they made their way onto the roof if Dean was thinking about his soul. She certainly had been, but Dean had a poker face to beat them all...except where Sam was concerned, she remedied her earlier statement, as she got another glimpse at the look of worry clouding his face. The demon had pretty much screwed with the deal. She had taken Sam, and she was almost certain that had to count against something...maybe it would be Dean's loophole, his way out of it...maybe it would save him.

* * *

"Keep your eyes open." Dean told Ellen, once they had got inside the warehouse. "They could be anywhere. She may have knocked them out and locked them up somewhere." 

Ellen nodded her head, she could have been annoyed with the fact that Dean, who was still a kid, in her eyes at least, was telling her how to hunt...but she let it go. Dean was like his father, and both of them were most comfortable when they had something to lead.

They walked in silence, but they hadn't gotten very far before they heard voices, both picked up their speed and they were confronted with Sam and Jo, backs to them, no more than a hundred feet away, their voices semi audible until...

"_I should have died!" Sam repeated unaware of anything else but what he was saying, and fear, and a throbbing headache from where his head had been split open. "I should have died!"_

The pain in Sam's voice hit Ellen like a ton of bricks and gnawed at her motherly instincts to do anything she could do to comfort him, to fix what was wrong...even though she knew she couldn't. Ellen turned to look at Dean who had stopped in his tracks when the full effect of his brother's words washed over him.

"_I should have died"_

Dean had never heard his brother say that in his entire life. He'd heard Sam get a bit reckless, after Jessica died...wanting to find the demon, kill it, but he'd never heard his brother say that. It tore at his insides as a reality that he'd never felt before began to set in. Sam had been carrying this hate and self-loathing around with him...all year. All year and Dean hadn't even realized...Sam had been blaming himself for the deal and thinking this...

"What have I done?" Dean whispered to himself.

He had done this, for himself, and now he was about to leave his brother alone to deal with this guilt that he felt for a choice that his brother had made.

"Sam. Jo." Ellen called out, slightly ahead of Dean who was still staggering at the revelation he'd just had.

Sam and Jo turned in the direction of the voices and Sam felt his heart skip a beat out of fear as he saw his brother. His vision was coming true and he had no idea how to stop it. Sam couldn't stop to think as he slowly followed Jo in the direction of Dean and Ellen. The white spots dancing in front of his eyes made seeing difficult, and it was a struggle to keep his brother and Ellen in focus.

* * *

Sam was fighting to keep Dean in focus. With each passing second, the pounding behind his eyes grew worse and he felt nauseous. He was having another vision. 

Dean didn't know how he caught it, but he did, he knew the signs, and he knew them well. Even from his distance, he could see Sam's eyes glass over and his body sway slightly with a loss of balance.

"Sam!" Dean yelled, running to his brother, "Sam!"

Jo hadn't realized what was going on behind her until she looked back at the sound of Dean's voice. She ran back to him, trying to support him as his body started to go slack.

Sam brought his hands up to his head, and gripped it, trying to control the pain, force it out...Not let it get the better of him this time. Sam's body was bowed forward by the pain and his limbs turned ridged, he slumped to the floor.

Dean ran towards him and was stopped by Cassia who had planted herself directly in his path.

"Not so fast sugar. I think we've got a debt to settle."

"You bitch! I'm going to send you to hell."

"Dean, I really don't think that's going to get you very far." Cassia said, "Really, after all, think about your poor brother, he's in pain you know. That's quite a whopper of a vision he's having." Cassia grinned, her happiness mirroring Dean's look of fear and anger.

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to tear you apart." Dean's voice shook with anger. "We had a deal."

"Demon, sugar. We're not the best with deals, even me. Highest bidder and all..." Cassia said, "But, don't worry, our deal, its still good. You know why? Because all I did was promise to bring Sammy back. Screwing with you boys...it isn't against the rules...a bit evil, but...like I said, demon."

_It was over...for all of them. Sam could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he watched. That was to be his punishment. He was going to be forced to watch them all die. It was like he was frozen. He couldn't move, he couldn't scream, he could barely think. Jo and Ellen...had...been finished quickly. But the screaming and the stench of burning flesh felt...real._

_It came in flashes now. It turned to Dean, who was looking at his brother with tear rimmed eyes and a look of determination...Sam was—the him in his vision—was across from his brother, in perfect sight, just conscious enough to watch her torture Dean before she killed him...Sam could see the knife being held to his throat...a choked "yes! Damn it, leave Sam alone!"...a flash of silver...a scream, Sam didn't know whose...blood...The sound of Dean's scream tore through him, like a knife through flesh...

* * *

please be awesome and review pretty please. I was going to wait and post it on thursday but now that my editor switched my days my evil boss decided to make me work til like the last possible minute on thursday nights...:crying in the corner: if i miss the beginning of supernautral im gonna be so mad! anyhow review and make me feel better about my horrible schedue. happy writers revew faster you know. _

Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

He's My Brother 

The infamous...chapter 6

(or so it would like to be remembered as)

* * *

A/N: I'm going to apologize in advance for this chapter. I'm not certian if this is the most recently beta'd chapter so plese let me know if you find any grammatical errors. I had some serious writers block when it came to writing this and i've been super busy with school and i'm on vacation now but...please review and updates wil come as soon as humanly possible!

* * *

Dean pulled out his salt gun and without a second thought he shot her. She disappeared, for the moment at least, and Dean ran to his brother. 

"Sammy..." Dean shook his brother. "Sammy...you gotta come back...Sammy!"

Sam opened his eyes groggily and struggled to keep his brother in focus as he looked around.

"Where's she?" He mumbled, the throbbing in his head practically unbearable, and his only thought focused on making sure that his vision didn't come true.

"Gone...for now." Dean said; his voice grim. "Are you okay?"

"I'm super." He said with a groan, getting up from the floor with Dean's help.

"Dude, you're so mentally damaged...you gotta stop hitting that head of yours...You're hard headed but you're not invincible."

"Real funny...coming from the guy who can't understand anything more complicated than school house rock"

"Guys." Ellen said, motioning towards the exit.

"Yeah," Jo seconded, "It's really great that you can be oh-so-funny when we're all inches from death but...can we get out of here before any other demons come after us."

"She's not gone." Ellen said. "Just...waiting and I think it'd be better if we get the heck out of here and face her on our own terms."

"No." Sam said abruptly causing everyone to turn to him in surprise. "This isn't your fight, It isn't Dean's fight, its mine...I just didn't see it before. I have to do this on my own."

"Sam!" Dean was about to come to blows with his brother. He had just damn well had it up to here with Sam's determination to be the martyr in this fight, and he'd be damned if he was going to let his brother toss himself up on the chopping block for that bitch of a demon.

"Dean, I'm not going to watch anyone else I care about die because of me. I won't do it."

"Guys!" Ellen said, "Really! Save the pissing match for later! Isn't this something you can argue about in the damn car? Right now, all of us need to get out of here. We don't have the firepower for this fight right now."

Both brothers looked at one another begrudgingly, neither one willing to budge on their stance. And Ellen had no doubt that either one would without a cattle prod, and even if that moved them would be a miracle in itself.

"God Dammit!" Dean swore, kicking the front fender of his baby with an ungodly force causing the fender to actually completely come off this time.

The Impala refused to start up, only grumbled, and huffed, and then stalled, and nothing more no matter how much Dean sweet talked it...or after he lost his temper kicked the holy crap out of it, and swore up a storm of expletives that would make a sailor proud. At the moment his attempt to drive through a wall of cement and metal didn't seem like such a gangbuster idea and he'd really like to shoot at something...or better yet kill that damn demon for breaking the deal and screwing things right to hell.

At the moment he was pretty sure that she couldn't take his soul as her new toy, but that didn't really matter, and didn't exactly take priority on his list of worries since she was trying to do everything in her power to kill his brother.

Sam was leaning up against the Impala half blocking out his brother, trying to sort through the visions and what he could use, and what was implanted, and...anything that could just get them through this alive--anything to get Dean out of this, and fix the mess he'd been stuck in ever since that demon made him into one of the chosen ones...the chosen one, or the Anti-Christ as Gordon liked to lead people to believe; and why the hell not, Sam thought, enough people had certainly died because of him.

Once they realized they weren't getting anywhere, Ellen and Jo wrenched open the trunk and started to rifle through the trunk looking for anything that could help them in the fight. Ellen figured that by the time Dean was done with his fit, and Sam had fully regained a level of enough consciousness to fight, the boys would be thankful to have the weapons at their disposal.

"Dean! Drop it." Jo yelled, she couldn't believe they were about to battle and he was fighting his damn _car_? There was definitely something wrong with those Winchester boys and she had every intention of getting both of them to see a freaking psychiatrist if they all made it out of this alive. "Tearing your car apart doesn't help a damn thing. Do something useful, and grab a gun."

"A gun's not going to do anything to her." Sam said massaging his temples and forcing himself to concentrate on the here and now; people's lives depended on his full concentration...Dean's life, Jo's, Ellen's...he refused to watch another person die because of him, he wouldn't do it.

"What do you mean?" Jo asked, "She disappeared when Dean shot her."

"Only because I pissed her off." Dean said, turning to face them. "She's coming back and she's not going to be back alone. And we're sure as hell not going to scare her away with a rifle and salt."

"What, so we're just supposed to sit here and let her kill us? We're not supposed to fight?" Jo said getting pretty damn fed up with Dean's attitude.

"No." Dean said. "You're not. You and Ellen, you're leaving. This is mine and Sam's battle, always has been, it's not about to change now."

"You can't do this alone Dean." Ellen said, "I don't care what you want, or think, you can't do it. Even with help...defeating this damn bitch is---

Ellen's voice trailed off as they all heard rustling. Sam and Dean grabbed their guns and stood at the ready, walking across the grass, a not nearly safe enough distance from his brother in Dean's opinion was the demon. Without a second thought Dean shot her, burning half a clip in the self assured bitch.

"That. Wasn't. Very. Nice." Cassia growled, once she'd recovered from the initial thought that he'd actually shot at her, glaring at Dean with a hunger for vengeance in her eyes. "I don't like being shot at. And I _don't _like you screwing with my plans. You just can't make it easy, can you Dean? Here I was perfectly willing to let you go free, and to let your friends go free but you had to screw with me--and not in the nice way either."

"Yeah, well, I don't like you trying to kill my brother. I guess that makes us even--except for the part where you just verbally sexually assaulted me." Dean grinned, "I told you I hate being violated by demons."

Both brothers kept their guns trained on the demon, neither one comfortable with the fact that all she was doing thus far was monologuing. When it came to demons, the monologuing was never a sign of good things. Ellen and Jo were behind them, salt guns and rifles in hand--they wanted to be prepared for anything coming and they knew she wasn't in this alone. There was no damn way she was in this alone. The way this was set up...something had to be behind this. Something big--or at least bigger than a crossroads demon.

Ellen just never in a million years guessed how big it was.

"You know, I imagine your mama would be downright ashamed of hearing you talk to a lady like that." Cassia said with a smirk of joy, she knew their buttons and she was going to press them until the boys had been all played out.

"Don't you dare talk about her." Sam said, "You don't know anything. _Anything_. about our mother."

"You'd be surprised what a demon can find out Sammy." Cassia drawled with a flick of her eyes in his direction. "I know plenty about mommy and Jess...probably more than either one of you boys could ever imagine."

Sam pulled on the trigger of his .45 fully intending to burn a clip in her, not caring that it wouldn't do a damn thing, except maybe make him feel better; but before he could he felt his body go flying, Dean scream his name, and felt his back and his head snap, and crack up against the trunk of a monster sized tree.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled turning back quickly to look at his brother. "Sammy!"

Sam wasn't moving, and the demon wasn't stopping. Dean turned back to look at her fully intending to do everything in his damn power to send her back to hell, right where she belonged.

"If you hurt my brother, I'm going to kill you." Dean told her. "I'll kill you."

"Well, hell, why don't you. You've been threatening to do it forever, lets do it, get it over with." Cassia threw her head back and laughed as she looked at Dean.

"And you," She directed at Ellen. "Just can't mind your own damn business. Din't anyone tell you not to get in the middle of a demonic pact?"

"Theirs no more pact anymore." Ellen said.

"Well…not between me and Dean but…that oesn't mean you all aren't fair game." Cassia said, "Now, where was I? Right."

Cassia flung Ellen, in much of the same manner that she had flung Sam, ut not before Ellen threw something to Dean.

"Mom!" Jo cried.

"No." Dean yelled. "Jo! Don't move."

"C'mon sugar," Cassia urged, "Aren't you going to do anything? Here I am screwing with you, hurting your brother and daddy's friend…aren't you gonna send me down to hell, like the naughty, _naughty, _girl I am?" Cassia laughed again as she looked from Dean to Jo and back. "You can't. Sucks to be powerless doesn't it?"

"You tell me." Dean said fingers tightening the amulet that Ellen threw him and tackling the demon to the ground.

"Exorcise her!" Dean growled at Jo struggling to keep her down, even with the demon hold amulets that Ellen had dug out of the back of the trunk, it was a struggle. "Now! I can't hold her down forever."

"I can't read latin!" Jo yelled back becoming frightened by the situation she was in. She'd never faced anything like this before. Never. And she sure as hell had never had her family threatened by a demon. "I can't! I don't know it at all."

Unbeknownst to Dean and Jo, Sam had regained conciousness after his lovely trip into the oak tree, and struggled to make his way over to Jo trying to fight the raging pain that encompassed his being. Sam came up behind her and ripped his Dad's journal out of her hands and began reading.

"Exorciziamus te, omnis immundus spiritus…" A raging wind threatened to rip the journal out of Sam's hands but he continued. "…omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolico. Invoato a nobis sancto…"

Sam stopped as Cassia regained her power and threw his brother off of her being.

"Keep reading." Jo told him, "Keep going! I'll take care of Dean." Jo hit her with a few bullets hoping to distract her long enough for Sam to finish the exorcism, the only possible way for them to defeat her, that she could think of. Her plan blew up in her face as the demon turned on her, grabbing her by the throat with a force that tore the skin from her neck and made breathing not even a possibility.

"Dominicos sanctal ecclestial . Terogamus audi nos..."

The exorcisim wasn't working and Sam didn't notice until too late. She tossed Jo aside and started moving towards Sam.

"You know," She raged, "Most demons are so god damn stupid and caught up in tradition and ritual that they don't realize why the hell they keep losing, this is why." Cassia pulled out a gun. "Its the damn foolproof way to kill a human but they are just too stupid to realize it."

Sam knew he was running out of choices, options. He had dropped his gun when he'd been flung into the tree and he didn't see any weapons in immediate site. Ellen was knocked out, probably unconcious. Jo was probably dead, and Dean was out cold--Sam refused to even consider the alternative. He was screwed, but maybe this was okay, at least if he was dead, Dean would be okay.

"Why don't I make this easy for you." Sam told her. "You want me? Fine. Take me. No more fighting. No more objections. Just leave my brother alone. Dean goes home free."

"Give me the journal, and I think I could arrange that." Cassia said eyes twinkling with the enjoyment she was getting from his pain. She could just see Sammy blaming himself already for everything. Too bad he didn't know that Dean had been right and that really, this had just about nothing to do with him. "I wouldn't want to worry that anyone else is going to try and pull a stunt like you just did with that exorcism."

Sam didn't like this, but what other choice did he have? He reached out his hand with the journal, and both he and the demon were shocked by the sound of Dean's voice from feet away.

"Sam! No!" Dean yelled.

Cassia sent Sam flying, for the second painful time, and wondered why the hell it was that Dean Winchester had to continuously screw with her. Anyone else would have had the damn sense to just roll over and play dead, not him though, damn it.

"You bitch..." He growled, pointing his gun at her. "I'm going to kill you."

Cassia pulled the trigger, shooting the older Winchester brother point blank. Dean fell to the ground, the blood spattering across her face.

"Really?"

_**a/n: Well, I know this chapter was a bit long but I wanted to make up for the loooooong wait. Chapter seven, I promise will be posted as soon as humanly possible as I've left you with this big cliffy but…since I've ended the chapter at such a horribly traumatizing point….teasers for chapter seven. Chapter seven: Whose alive? Whose dead? Whose majorly screwed? And are they ever going to get rid of this demon? And could it be possible, is someone going to come back from the dead???? Lots of surprises in store for chapter seven but be patient please I am in the middle of a serious load of school work and I have schedule writing around that which is difficult.**_


	7. Chapter 7

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He's My Brother 

_**Chapter 7****

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okay, so i probably should have waited and had this beta'd but I felt so terrible about how long its taken me to update, so here it is--finally--and all mistakes are mine. sam and dean too of course, naturally, how could you think they aren't mine. i am a purveryor of winchster boys you know, so of course i'd have to have sam and dean...oh geez i need coffee i sound crazy lol. hope you enjoy!

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_Sammy,_

Dean nearly laughed as he wrote that, Sam had always been so angry with him when they were kids for calling him that. He wondered if Sam got now that it was just their special thing, no one else called him Sammy, just him.

_I know how angry you are at me right now, but you know I had to. Watching out for you, it's my job, always has been and this is gonna be the last time. I have to go alone and keep you safe._

_I'm not afraid of dying._

He wasn't. He had been at death's door so many times in his life...by all accounts he should be used to it; familiar...he was scared though. Nothing scared him like the unknown. Twenty-four years of his life had been consumed by what was to many, the unknown, and it had never scared him. Windiegos, poltergeists, demons...they didn't scare him, not unless it was threatening his family and then he was terrified. Leaving Sam alone scared him more than anything he'd ever faced before. He'd always been there to take care of his brother and now...he couldn't. This was an unknown he'd give anything not to have to face. An unknown that he wished his brother wasn't going to have to face.

_I think you understand...or at least you will in time. You think it's selfish, and unfair, I know; but hey, hasn't our life always been a bit unfair. We've always had each other and you know that, you have to understand that I'm sorry but I had to do it. I couldn't give up on you._

It was so much harder than Dean had thought it was going to be. Giving up his soul was the easy part and if he had to...he'd do it again. He'd always do whatever it took to protect Sam.

_I know that you would have done the same. It's like when we were back with LeGrange. You didn't give on me Sammy...you couldn't have expected me to just give up on you, could you?_

Dean could feel the tears starting to fall and wiped them away stubbornly. He wondered why this was so hard...just writing this letter, it was like saying goodbye the one thing he didn't want to do.

_It was never a tough choice to make Sammy, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. You're my baby brother after all. You told me that you've been looking up to me your entire life...and I've been trying to protect you. Don't hold it against dad; even before mom died...don't be angry, it's just my job._

He remembered the day that his mom and dad brought Sam home from the hospital as clear as yesterday. He'd been amazed and his mom had let him hold Sam...He was terrified that he was going to hurt him and told his mother so. She'd told him, and it had always stuck with him, that he could never hurt him, he was the big brother and he'd always look after him...keep him safe, because even when they had nothing else, they'd always have each other. It was that memory, those words that reassured him when he took Sam and ran out of the burning house all those years ago.

_No regrets, right Sammy? _

Dean _didn't_ regret any of it. He'd learned a long time ago that there was no point in living in the what-ifs. He wished his mom hadn't ever died, god he would have given anything for it not to have happened...except for his brother. He knew that Sammy blamed himself and he could only hope that Sam believed him now, that he couldn't blame himself that they'd all gotten caught up in a demon's game.

_I don't regret anything, and I don't want you to either. I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I know that we don't talk about it much but I am. You're braver than I am Sammy, braver than I could ever have hoped to be. You know what you want, always have and you were brave enough to stand up to dad for it. _

Seven years, and Dean still remembered that day.

He didn't even know that Sam had applied to college, it kind of hurt that Sam didn't trust him enough to tell him, but he understood. It took guts to do what he'd done, and he didn't want to risk being talked out of it, or making Dean feel bad. Sam tried so hard...he wanted that normal life so bad.

He could still hear Sam and his dad screaming at each other over Stanford. He hated it when they fought and he could count on one hand the number of times they fought and he didn't intervene. This was one of those times. He just stood there, stunned, Sam was really going to abandon them. It killed him to think that his brother wanted a normal life more than he wanted for them to be a family.

But that was then.

He knew better now, and he just wished they hadn't wasted so much time.

_I know how scared and angry you are Sam. But you'll forgive me, its just who you are. You're not like me, and I don't want you to be. You're a better person than I am, stronger, but you're still innocent. Don't lose that innocence Sammy, it makes you stronger. It makes you care. And thats not a bad thing._

_You told me once that you look up to me. Well, little brother, I look up to you. You have a strength I've never had, and you're brave enough to trust people._

Why was it so hard? Dean wondered, struggling with the tears that were starting to fall. Why was it always so hard...he just hoped Sam wouldn't ever forget...

_I promised you that I'd watch out for you Sammy, I promised mom, I promised dad, and I promised myself. I'm keeping my promises...and I want you to keep yours. Don't let this be the end. Keep fighting, always keep fighting. Don't let these S.O.B.'s get the better of you._

_I love you Sammy._

_Dean_

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thanks for reading, and no this is not the end. two-three more chapters to come. _


	8. Chapter 8

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**_He's My Brother_**

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_Authors Note: So, this chapter has taken a while and I want to apologize because I've had it just about completely done for a while now and have just been sitting on it...but i've made some changes, made it better... hopefully...and here it is. Enjoy! Oh, right, and me I own nothing...except for my share in the winter flu...and a cat that only likes me when i feed him and pet him

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It was so beautiful…Dean, Dean Winchester finally dead, blood pooling around his head, framing a face that carried a smug grin even in death…

It would've been even more beautiful if it had been real, Cassia thought, that somewhat minor detail putting an annoying kink in her happy thoughts.

"I _don't _understand why we couldn't have just killed him." She muttered, daring to question him for the first time.

"Because we don't have _orders _to do so. If you had listened to orders, we wouldn't have to clean up this mess of yours." He sneered, his back to her, not bothering to face her as he spoke. "He gave you direct orders to not get involved in the Winchester business, we _all _were given instructions to stay out of this business with the Winchesters and everyone listened except for you. You just had to stick your nose where it didn't belong and you nearly screwed everything back up. Just a little longer and we would have lost all hope of getting the youngest Winchester on our side."

"You wouldn't even have the chance for that if it hadn't been for me." Cassia shot back.

"The plans were made and you interfered."

She hated him. Cassia hated all of them; each and every one of the chosen, psychic, half-breed children.

Dean was dead, his brother was dead. Sam couldn't wrap his mind around it, he couldn't believe it; he _refused_ to believe it. None of this made any sense at all. It wasn't supposed to happen this way, Dean wasn't supposed to die but...he was? It felt surreal and wrong and now he was alone. He concluded from that minor fact that this couldn't be right. If everyone was dead...why would they be gone? Why wouldn't they kill him too? It had been about him the entire time and they wouldn't leave him like this, it would be too easy for him to get away and that bitch may have been a good many things—but thus far, at least—she hadn't been stupid. Sam just had to figure out what it was that she wanted and then, then he'd be able to save Dean...no matter what it took he wasn't going to let his brother die for him.

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Sam let his brothers head drop and slowly walked away towards the impala. 

"What is he doing!" Cassia shrieked. "He's walking away. This 'Sam Winchester walking away unscathed' was not part of the plan! He promised me that they were both going to suffer, and right now neither one of them are suffering!"

"They are playing into the plan." He said. "Any moment now, we will have Sam who believes that his brother is dead, we will take him with us, Dean will return, and Sam will kill him, thereby completing the transformation and truly making Sam part of our side."

Cassia laughed, a broken, hysterical, unbelieving laugh. "That is never going to work. You must be crazy if you think that would, ever in a million years work."

"Sam isn't going realize he's killing his brother—he's going to be killing you."

"What?" Cassia objected, her eye's narrowing, and her voice dropping an octave. She _liked_ not being in hell, and she liked this body, she had no intentions of dying for this damn plan.

"Relax." He sighed, "You, unfortunately, aren't going anywhere. It's all an illusion like the rest of this...its going to be great fun to watch though."

Cassia backed down, still somewhat unsettled and kept her guard up. If he was going to re-neg on their deal...she'd take him down with her.

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"Sam!" Dean yelled. "Sam!" 

Sam was nowhere to be seen. Dean had found Ellen and Jo, both relatively okay, but he couldn't really think about it, not when his brother was gone. Not when he had all those memories from a year ago running through his head. He couldn't lose Sam again.

"Sam!" Dean knew he was gone, but what else did he have. He had no idea how to find Sam or even what they were planning to do. He didn't even know if they had any weapons, however, he didn't really care, he just needed to find Sam and make sure he was okay. If he had to die to save his brother, so be it. He was prepared to do it once, and he'd do it again.

"Dean, you're not going to find Sam this way." Ellen said. "We aren't going to find him until we get to the root of this problem."

"The demon." Jo said.

Dean was silent for a moment. They were right. He had to kill that bitch and whoever it was that she was working for, that would end it all.

"The demon." Dean said, and then it hit him. "The demon." He repeated. "Son of a bitch!" Dean swore.

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The way Sam figured it he was two steps ahead of Cassia. She clearly wanted it to look like his brother was dead, but he knew that Dean wasn't, he knew it. Deep down he could feel that Dean was okay, he didn't know how, but he did. He also knew how to kill the bitch, which was one other fact that he was mostly sure she wasn't privy to. She may have his dad's journal but he had the incantation to exorcise her firmly imprinted in his mind, and he could send her to hell. However, this wasn't exactly helping him to do anything yet as all he knew was that he was in what seemed like a forest in the middle of frigging nowhere. 

But, yet, he _did _have the Impala that had to count for something...maybe. It still wasn't working but he had a small arsenal of weapons, and the determination to get his brother back. After all this time, all these years they'd fought evil...evil wasn't going to win.

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**"You do have a backup plan for when they figure this out, and Dean shows up, right?" Cassia asked, looking at him with a doubting look on her face. "Because I'm not going to be sticking around to save your ass, and have him send me back to hell." 

"Oh, just shut up." He was sick to hell of all her bitching. "It is impossible. Maybe you're not listing, or oh, maybe you're just not smart enough to grasp what we're doing here but this plan, unlike your idiot plan, can't fail. You know why, Dean has no hope of figuring this all out in time. We've got them in separate realities. Dean thinks his brother's gone missing, Sam watched his brother die...we've already won. Remind me to send the trickster a fruit basket or something, he really was quite useful."

"You killed him." Cassia reminded him. "Something about taking credit for your grand plan."

"Well, guess I better send it to myself." He laughed, "Get a good seat sister, this is going to be good. I can't wait to see the look on his face when he shoots you and your face becomes Dean's. Or maybe he'll stab you, it would be a slower death, dramatic...entertaining...either way, Sam Winchester is ours."

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End file.
